This is a blog from a long time resident and is focused on the issues facing North Bay Village, Florida, the most densely populated municipality in the state. Opinions expressed are my own but facts are facts. I welcome comments and even guest posts.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Fire Drill Next Tuesday

The on again, off again story of Fire Engine 27 will be discussed, again, at the next county meeting regarding the budget The information is below.

The Village will be providing Transportation if you need it. Call Jenice Rosado at 305 756 7171 for details.

Why This Matters:

The Fire Station on Pelican Island services North Bay Village with a fire truck and an ambulance. These are the only dedicated response units serving our town. We are uniquely cut off from the mainland and Miami Beach by two drawbridges. This was always a poor design but not likely to get better.

The county is considering taking away our pumper, our fire truck. The discussion so far has already been a fiasco. I was at the last meeting and the mayor and chief stated emphatically that the Fire Engine 27 would stay, then the fire chief later backtracked.

Look, the county is making cuts all over and everyone wants to keep what they have. But North Bay Village is not like any other city in the county, or the country for that matter. Some basics per the 2010 Census.

We are the most densely populated municipality in Florida.

We are the 12th most densely populated municipality in the United States.

We are the only one of the top 100 densely populated municipalities that does not have a land or a fixed bridge access to anywhere else.

We have over 400 students at Treasure Island Elementary during a normal school day.

The National Fire Administration best practices in high density urban areas is a six minute response time to a fire. For each minute after that, the damage potential grows exponentially. By 7 minutes, the fire will have spread beyond the original room, by 8 minutes, the rest of the building is in danger, by 9 minutes adjacent buildings are at risk.

If the county removes Fire Engine 27, our fire pumper will be in Miami Shores, over 3 miles away. If the bridge is up, that adds another minimum of 6 minutes to their response. If the bridge is stuck, we burn.

That North Bay Village is even being considered for this cut is crazy. Our geography makes it an unacceptable risk.